Protective guard for toothbrush



Nov. 8, 1955 M. B. GREEN 2,722,703

PROTECTIVE GUARD FOR TOOTHBRUSH Filed Nov. 28, 1952 INVENTOR. MYRON B.GREEN u/ma #cm/ ATTORNEYS United States Patent PROTECTIVE GUARD FORTOOTHBRUSH Myron B. Green, Minneapolis, Minn. Application November 28,1952, Serial No. 322,924

6 Claims. (Cl. 15-143) The present invention relates to improvements ina protective guard for a toothbrush. In general it relates to a guardstructure for use with a toothbrush to prevent fluids on the bristlesfrom flowing to the handle and also acts to prevent the bristles fromcoming in contact with a surface on which the brush may be laid. Inparticular it relates to a guard having a dual function of protectingthe bristles of a toothbrush from coming into contact with acontaminating surface when the brush is either laid or accidentallydropped on the surface and which further acts to prevent fluids such assuds or saliva from flowing from the bristles onto the hand of a personusing the brush.

In the active use of a toothbrush, several factors enter into its useother than the mere scrubbing of teeth. Frequently, fluids on the brushwill flow down the handle onto the hand of the user and under certainconditions this may be highly annoying. Furthermore, when a person hascompleted use of a brush and attempts to lay the same onto a supportingsurface such as a wash stand, it is desirable that the bristles be heldin spaced relation to the wash stand to prevent contamination of thebristles. Still further, almost everyone has experienced the annoyanceof accidentally dropping a toothbrush, and if the same descends to thefloor it is highly desirable that the bristles be held in such a manneras to avoid contact and contamination by the floor surface.

My present invention incorporates a guard which may be attached to atoothbrush but is preferably formed integral with the toothbrush handle.A particular feature of the guard is that it has an oil? centerrelationship with the brush handle so as to always cause rotation of thebrush handle in such a manner as to hold the bristles in spaced relationto any surface with which the brush may come into contact. Anotherfeature is that the guard is composed of a pair of such camsinterconnected with each other to form a double barrier between thebristles and the handle, which will prevent any fluid from creeping overthe double cam surface to the handle.

An object of the invention is to provide in combination with atoothbrush, of aguard in the form of an off center cam which is capableof holding the bristles in spaced relation to any surface on which thebrush may be laid and for causing rotation of the brush with respect toa contacting surface to always hold the bristles away from contact withthe surface.

Another object is to provide an eccentric shaped off center cam whichacts as a guard between the bristles of a toothbrush and its handle andto cause rotation of the brush when the latter comes into contact with asurface so as to hold the bristles away from the surface.

Another object is to provide a guard in the form of two interconnectedcams which are mounted in off center relationship to a toothbrush handleto prevent fluids from flowing from the bristles to the handle and alsocause rotation of the brush when the latter comes into contact with asurface to hold the bristles away from contaminating contact with saidsurface.

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Other and further objects may become apparent from the followingspecification and claims, and in the appended drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a toothbrush incorporating my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1 showingone form of toothbrush guard; and,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of a modified form of guard such asis shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, general reference numeral v10 indicates atoothbrush including a handle portion 12 having an aperture 14 at oneend to support the brush on a hook, and a curved forward end 16 thatsupports a plurality of. tufted bristles 18 on one lateral side of thehandle 12.

A guard indicated by general reference character 20 is placed on thehandle at the center of balance and yet far enough away from thebristles 18 to prevent any possibility of interfering with the properbrushing of the teeth. The guard is preferably formed integral with thehandle as it is desirable that it be situated at about the point ofbalance between the opposite ends of the handle. Guard 20 is composed ofcam 22 having a beaded edge 23 and cam 24 having a beaded edge 25. Thetwo cams are spaced from each other and connected by a narrow neckportion 26.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the guard 20 is shown in a slightly enlargedscale. It will be noted that cam 24 is of an eccentric shape and is of atype generally referred to as a heart-shaped cam having -a relativelyflat lower surface 28 but with the major portion of the cam 30 extendingin the same direction as the bristles 18. It will be further noted thatthe handle 12does not pass through the center of the cam but rather isin off center relation ship thereto, being on the side closest to thesurface 28.

Referring now to Fig. 3 is shown a guard which differs from guard 20only as to the shape of the cams. Shown in Fig. 3 is a cylindrical cam32 which-is connected to a similar cam, not shown, by a connectingportion 34. The cam 32 has a beaded edge 33. Like cam 24, cam 32 issecured in an oil? center relationship to handle 12 so as to have itsmajor portion designated by reference character 36 on the same .side ofthe handle as the bristles 18.

When a toothbrush is inactive use in brushing the teeth, it frequentlyoccurs that fluids, such as water, cleanser or saliva will flow .fromthe bristles 18 in the direction of the handle portion and will flowonto the hand of the user. Guard 20, whether of the type shown in Fig. 2or Fig. 3, by being composed of two spaced apart members, will preventthe fluid from flowing to the hands since the beaded edge 33 of cam 22of Fig. 1 will tend to form a barrier to prevent the fluid from passingacross the center connection 26 to the second cam 24, whose beaded edge25 acts as a further barrier since fluid will not normally pass throughthe space of the center connection 26 and over the beads 23, 25. Ofequal importance is the fact that guard 20, being situatedat the centerof balance and having the major portion of each of the cams extending onthe same side of the handle .12 as the bristles 18, will act as aneccentric to cause rotation of the handle when laid or droppedonasupportingrsurface such as a wash stand or shelf, thereby always turningthe brush with the bristles upwardly. The function of the off centerguard is of equal importance in the event that the brush is accidentallydropped such as to a contaminated floor surface, since the guard issituated at the balance of the handle the brush will always tend to fallon the guard and by reason of its off center relationship with thehandle will cause the handle to'roll over to hold the bristles upwardlyand away from contact with the floor. This function is particularlyapplicable to the guard made up of the heartshaped cams of Fig. 2.

The advantages of my invention reside in the provision of a toothbrushguard which prevents fluids from flowing from the bristles to the handand also in the provision of an off center relationship with the handleso as to cause the brush to rotate to a position with the bristles heldaway from a contacting surface when the brush is laid or dropped on saidsurface.

I claim:

1. A toothbrush including a handle having a. multiplicity of tuftedbristles extending from a lateral side at one end thereof, and anoff-center cam transversely fixed on said handle, said cam positionedbetween the opposite ends of the handle at a point where the center ofgravity of the assembly is disposed on the side of the center of the cammost distant from the bristles, the major off-center portion of said camextending from the handle in the same direction as the bristles andforming with the end of the handle opposite the bristles two points ofcontact to engage a plane supporting surface whenever the assembly ispositioned with the bristles extending in the direction of saidsupporting surface.

2. A toothbrush including a handle having a multiplicity of tuftedbristles extending from a lateral side at one end thereof, and anoff-center cam transversely fixed on said handle with its center ofrotation on the same side of the center of gravity of the assembly asthe bristles, said cam positioned between the opposite ends of thehandle at a point where said center of gravity is disposed on the sideof the center of the cam most distant from the bristles, the majoroff-center portion of said cam extending from the handle in the samedirection as the bristles and forming with the end of the handleopposite the bristles two points of contact to engage a plane supportingsurface whenever the assembly is positioned with the bristles extendingin the direction of said supporting surface, said cam acting to causerotation of the handle to a position on a supporting surface so that thebristles extend away from said surface.

3. A toothbrush including a handle having a multiplicity of tuftedbristles extending from a lateral side at one end thereof, and aneccentric shaped cam mounted in olf-center relationship on the handlewith the center of rotation of said cam on the same side of the centerof gravity of the assembly as the bristles, said cam positioned betweenthe opposite ends of the handle at a point where said center of gravityis disposed on the side of the center of the cam most distant from thebristles, the major off-center portion of said cam extending from thehandle in the same direction as the bristles and forming with the end ofthe handle opposite the bristles two points of contact to engage a planesupporting surface whenever the assembly is positioned with the bristlesextending in the direction of said supporting surface, said cam actingto cause rotation of the handle to a position on the supporting surfaceso that the bristles extend away from said surface.

4. A toothbrush including a handle having a multiplicity of tuftedbristles extending from a lateral side at one end thereof, and a guardconsisting of a pair of laterally spaced interconnected cams mounted onsaid handle in off-center relationship to said handle with the center ofrotation of said guard on the same side of the center of gravity of theassembly as the bristles, said guard positioned between the oppositeends of the handle at a point where said center of gravity is disposedon the side of the center of the guard most distant from the bristles,the major off-center portions of said guard extending from the handle inthe same direction as the bristles and forming with the end of thehandle opposite the bristles points of contact to engage a planesupporting surface whenever the assembly is positioned with the bristlesextending in the direction of said supporting surface, said cam actingto cause rotation of the handle to a position on a supporting surface sothat the bristles extend away from said surface.

5. A toothbrush including a handle having a multiplicity of tuftedbristles extending from a lateral side at one end thereof, and a guardfixed on said handle between the opposite ends thereof consisting of apair of interconnected cylindrical cams which form a double barrier toprevent fluids from flowing from that portion of the handle havingbristles to the other portion of the handle, said interconnected camsbeing mounted in off-center relationship to the handle with the centerof rotation of the guard on the same side of the center of gravity ofthe assembly as the bristles, said guard positioned between the oppositeends of the handle at a point where said center of gravity is disposedon the side of the center of the guard most distant from the bristles,the major off-center portions of said guard extending from the handle inthe same direction as the bristles and forming with the end of thehandle opposite the bristles two points of contact to engage a planesupporting surface whenever the assembly is positioned with the bristlesextending in the direction of said supporting surface.

6. A toothbrush including a handle having a multiplicity of tuftedbristles extending from a lateral side at one end thereof, and a guardfixed on said handle between its opposite ends consisting of a pair ofinterconnected eccentric shaped cams which form a double barrier toprevent fluids from flowing from that portion of the handle having thebristles to the other portion of said handle, said interconnected camsbeing mounted in off-center relationship to the handle with the centerof rotation of said guard on the same side of the center of gravity ofthe assembly as the bristles, said guard positioned between the oppositeends of the handle at a point where said center of gravity is disposedon the side of the center of the guard most distant from the bristles,the major ofl-center portions of said guard extending from the handle inthe same direction as the bristles and forming with the end of thehandle opposite the bristles points of contact to engage a planesupporting surface whenever the assembly is positioned with the bristlesextending in the direction of said supporting surface, said guard actingto cause rotation of the handle to a position on a supporting surface sothat the bristles extend away from said surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,501,020 Small July 8, 1924 1,871,523 Howard Aug. 16, 1932 2,307,493Davidson Jan. 5, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 717,287 France of 1931 750,214France of 1933

